The island of Ta’u is located more than 400 miles off the coast of the Western U.S., and until recently its power had to be generated by diesel generators. Now, the entire island is being powered by solar energy, thanks to Tesla and SolarCity.

Ta’u now hosts a solar power and battery storage-enabled microgrid that can supply nearly 100 percent of the island’s power needs from renewable energy, providing a cost-saving alternative to diesel, removing the hazards of power intermittency and making outages a thing of the past.

The microgrid – 1.4 megawatts of solar generation capacity from SolarCity and Tesla and 6-megawatt hours of battery storage from 60 Tesla Powerpacks – was implemented within just one year from start to finish.

This is one of the first joint announcements from Tesla and SolarCity since their merger was approved by its shareholders last week.

Find out more about the project in the video above at the SolarCity blog.

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